“The mood is generally resignation in the face of inevitable change,” said The Cure’s Robert Smith of this tragic letter in song form. ‘Solitude Is Bliss’ was described by Parker as “the most sassy, confident-sounding song” he’d created for Tame Impala. “I thought, ‘Man, I’m the worst rapper in the world – I’m just a loser,’” he recalls, “so I started singing, ‘I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me.’ I’m always kinda putting myself down like that.”, Key lyrics: “I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me?”. The late 1960s to mid-70s were a manic depressive time period in music, populated by exultant highs and soul crushing lows. I wrote ‘Rock Bottom’ right after that.”, Key lyrics: “My life is full of empty promises and broken dreams / I’m hopin’ things look up; but there ain’t no job openings / I feel discouraged, hungry and malnourished”. The melody for this was, according to Thom Yorke “a competition by me and Jonny to get as many chords as possible into a song”, but underneath it are lyrics about being relentlessly pursued by dark thoughts. Below you'll find popular songs that you've definitely heard before, but also some more underground rap songs with depression in the title or lyrics. The darkest cut from Kanye’s 2016 album ‘The Life Of Pablo’ pits the phrases ‘fuck my life’ against ‘for my lady’, and sets his struggles with mental health against his love for his family. I used to play this song very sparingly and only before difficult math tests (I didn’t want this amazing song to lose its potency by being overplayed ;)). Key lyrics: “I’m not here / this isn’t happening… in a little while I’ll be gone.”, Set to plaintive acoustic guitar, this brooding number sees a self-loathing Cohen express scorn on a lover who believes they can ‘cure’ his depression. The highs came in the form of disco and bubblegum pop via ABBA, The Bee Gees and their ilk. Others point out the crippling effects of //saudade// it portrays. The Boston band contrast intensely upbeat guitar with introspective, gloomy lyrics here. Whatever the reasons may be, we wanted to know what songs describe depression best, so we asked our mental health community to share with us what songs perfectly describe their depression experiences. It’s a wallowing song,” later adding it was “a person’s relationship with their own sadness” – addressing it something that must be lived with. The Way We WereBarbra Streisand "The Way We Were" was the first of five Hot 100 #1 singles recorded by Barbra Streisand. “This song really hits me to the core. This sitar-backed, up-tempo track was originally released as a single in 1966 before being added to the US version of fourth album ‘Aftermath’. Key lyrics: “This is a low / But it won’t hurt you / when you are alone it will be there with you / finding ways to stay solo”. 5 Things Christians Get Wrong About Depression; 25 Love Notes From God for Your Worst Days; If you’re fighting this fight with me, here are 75+ songs that have helped me along the way. Use the comment box below to let us know if there are songs about being depressed that you think that we should add to this post. Iggy Pop’ – Cat Power. The common thread of them all, though, is that they all help put dark thoughts into perspective. Gary Jules later covered the song for 2001 film ‘Donnie Darko’, and it hit Number One in the UK for Christmas 2003. Voted the greatest song of the millennium in 2000 on John Peel’s BBC Radio One show, it was also used to close out 2007 Ian Curtis biopic ‘Control’. A list of songs about depression. “King Of Pain” by The Police. On this minimalist acoustic ditty, singer-songwriter Conor Oberst – aka Bright Eyes – relays the sad tale of two dysfunctional, substance-addicted lovers who are trying to help each other out, but just bring one another down. have songs specifically about depression and suicide, while Kanye West raps about being alone and misunderstood in his single "Lost in the World." Check out our  Pinterest Board for this playlist with beautiful graphics that you can keep and share online with family and friends. At the end of it there’s a better way out, there are better things to do than kill yourself.”, Key lyrics: “Another six months, I’ll be unknown / give all my things to all my friends / you’ll never step foot in my room again / you’ll close it off, board it up”. It’s an anthem for introverts, depressed or otherwise. “Grief is a final lament and epilogue,” tweeted Earl before the release of his second album ‘I Don’t Like Shit I Don’t Go Outside’ in 2015. That shit is depressing as a motherfucker. Perpetual underachievement is the subject of this 1995 single from Elastica. I have no true friends that I can count on. Key lyrics: “I don’t want to talk / I’m taking the cure so I can be quiet whenever I want / so leave me alone.”, A friend inspired this song about the pain of losing loved ones, says singer Ben Gibbard of their song from 2005 album ‘Plans’. Music is a great way to eliminate stress, anxiety and depression. Understanding depression and combatting the … American singer Cat Power – aka Chan Marshall – wrote this 11-minute, piano-driven two-chorder for her boyfriend’s daughter, Lucia, who was being targeted by online bullies and found solace in Bowie’s ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust…’ It’s relentlessly optimistic: “Your world is just beginning,” she emphasises. “Being overwhelmed by your own inner dialogue and having some sort of conniption fit and potentially doing yourself some harm, then asking for help.”, Key lyrics: “I have done it again / I have been here many times before / Hurt myself again today / And the worst part is there’s no one else to blame”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BZMqajycaE. Contrary to popular belief, not all sad songs are about a flunked love affair. It’s very pure. “Unwell” by Matchbox Twenty. “1-800-273-8255” is one of the most notable rap songs about depression in the last decade. Even if this song is not even a little bit about depression, it works so well for when all you can do is hold on for life, and for love. 8: … Though this was supposedly based on a dream Thom Yorke had about floating down the Liffey in Dublin, paralysed, it’s come to mean something completely different to those struggling with depression. Photo Credit: Visionary, Def Jam On “1-800-273-8255,” Logic tackles the issue of suicide head-on. Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) said the collaboration with Ed Sheeran arrived after the pair met up following an awards show to party – they wrote the song the following day. Key lyrics: “You coulda rescued me from drowning / now it’s too late, I’m on a thousand downers now, I’m drowsy / and all I wanted was a lousy letter or a call”, Matty Healy’s song about his mother, Denise Welch, explores her post-natal depression, a subject she’s also broached herself: “My mum knew I had to keep physical contact with the baby. “This has always been my go-to song when I’m having a rough day. Contents. ‘I See A Darkness’ – Bonnie Prince Billy, ‘Needle In The Hay’ – Elliott Smith, ‘What Sarah Said’ – Death Cab For Cutie, ‘FML feat. Guitarist Tom DeLonge said, “It’s one of those things, a story of a kid not being happy in his life, crossed with us being really lonely on tour. But it greatly depends on the kind of music you listen to. Key lyrics: “I’m overcoming the obstacles of the ubiquitous demon named ‘shame’”. Key lyrics: “I know you have a heavy heart; I can feel it when we kiss / So many men stronger than me have thrown their backs out trying to lift it.”. Key lyrics: “You just don’t get it when I get so down about it”. I think it has the attention and release that all good songs should have.”, Key lyrics: “Everywhere I look someone dies / wonder when it’s my turn”, Johnny Cash famously covered Trent Reznor’s favourite song. / How can they stay in the sky? Key lyrics: “There is no pain you are receding / A distant ship smoke on the horizon”. Adam Granduciel was struggling with depression when he wrote 2014 album ‘Lost In The Dream’, from which this is the second track. Key lyrics: “Blue moon / You saw me standing alone / Without a dream in my heart / Without a love of my own.”. The lows came in the form of devastating testaments to inner sadness and existential rage. This playlist is comprised of 75+ songs about depression written by artists who are able to articulate what depression feels like. This song relates to my life 100%, I feel unwanted, and alone. He died from an overdose less than a year after this song was recorded. The brooding ‘Dark Times’ sits towards the end of The Weeknd’s 2015 break-out album ‘Beauty Behind The Madness’. But it helps, though. We asked the whole NME team for their top picks of what to listen to when the going gets tough, and this is what we came up with: 50 of the best songs about depression, old and new. Key lyrics: “Bitch everything is your fault / faults breakin’ to pieces, earthquakes on every weekend / because you shook as soon as you knew confinement was needed”, After Stevens’ mother died he addressed the weight of his grief in his seventh studio album, 2015’s ‘Carrie & Lowell’. “The only way I could know what the hell was going on,” says Billie Joe Armstrong of his panic disorder, “was to write a song about it.” This is the frenetic result. Key lyric: “All the kids that I can’t compare to / making friends like they’re all supposed to / you will never come close to how I feel”. Laid low by severe drug dependency, stomachs pains and the toll of super-stardom, the Nirvana singer descended into the black depression that would finally kill him, aged just 27. The lyrics are perfect and seem to fit my depression to a T, while still reminding me to … A song Ed wrote about a friend who had a miscarriage, “Small Bump” has some poetic lines that are sure to make you bawl. Throughout the decades, hip-hop has produced plenty of songs about emotional darkness and depression. “It just felt too personal. It’s a heartbreaking ode to loneliness, but also conveys the comfort of solitude. A song written about depression, heightened by the choices in life he had to make. Some are songs that share exactly how I feel in the depths like “Heavy” by … 10: “Whiskey Lullaby” by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss Song About Depression No. H Songs about heartache‎ (212 P) L One of Eminem’s darkest tracks is written from the point of view of a fan whose world unravels after Eminem fails to respond to him. Although recorded in 1993, the astonishing Pennyroyal Tea dates back to 1990. Some have interpreted this languid sleeper hit as a reflection on an unusual form of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) that strikes in summer, rather than winter. Key lyrics: “Sometimes I give myself the creeps / sometimes my mind plays tricks on me / it all keeps adding up I think I’m cracking up / am I just paranoid or am I just stoned?”. At Love Lives On, we’re always listening. Depression is a very serious thing and simply listening to songs about depression may not be sufficient enough to treat your depression. ‘u’, from the Compton rapper’s third album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’, has him locking himself in a hotel room to battle his inner demons. All Rights Reserved. “The song is about someone who is beyond depressed,” he said. “It was classic depression, I suppose. The end of the song sees him come to terms with his loss, and embrace the new life of his brother’s newborn daughter – “The beauty that she brings, illumination.”, Key lyrics: “I should have wrote a letter / and grieve what I happen to grieve / my black shroud / I never trust my feelings / I waited for the remedy.”. The 14 Best Songs for People with Depression I am thoroughly convinced that Bill Conti’s “Gonna Fly Now” (aka the theme song from the Rocky movie) is the best song ever created. There was never any doubt from family that this wasn’t an illness.”, Key lyrics: “Well we got a plane, going to see my dad again / she prayed that we fell from the sky / simply to alleviate the pain”. ‘Paint It, Black’ – The Rolling Stones, ‘Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies’ – Biffy Clyro, ‘Suicide Is Painless’ – Manic Street Preachers, ‘Nothin’ But Time feat. Though music isn’t a magical “cure” for mental illness, it can be a source of comfort for people who live with anxiety and depression. It can last for days, weeks or even 6 months of depression, sometimes the feeling of depression lasts for years. The song seemed like it had a personal connection with Demi as it talks about staying strong. 1. I remember looking at bottles thinking it was like asking me to climb Everest. Music isn't typically categorized by the meaning of the words, so this music list is a great way to find some solid tracks that are thematically similar. For the music video, frontman Dave Pirner was inspired by missing children stories (in particular 12-year-old Polly Klaas who went missing in 1993) and wanted to do his part to help, so throughout the video, images of children who had disappeared at the time were shown. One of the dourest songs from Morrisey’s pen, ‘I Know It’s Over’ tackles love, loneliness and despair with a sprawling five-and-half minute epic. With the stigma surrounding mental illness, you may find it difficult to find someone to talk to who truly understands what you’re going through (though we highly recommend that you speak to your family doctor or a licensed therapist). 1982’s hit single contrasted brash pop sounds with broken lyrics. It always makes me want to cry! It’s the clip-clopping, muted percussion that makes this contemplative number, on which The King addresses the moon as the only one who understands him. Key lyrics: “How the birds can sing a tuneless song? © 2016 Love Lives On. “I’m not proud to say I hate myself and don’t like what I am,” he’s explained, “but maybe there is real human communication that ends up positive even though everything being said is negative.”, Key lyrics: “What have I become, my sweetest friend / everyone I know goes away in the end”, Dan Auerbach drew on his painful divorce for these morose lyrics; he struggles to “stay on track just like Pops told me to.”, Key lyrics: “When the music is done and all the lights are low / I will remember the times when love would really glow”. ‘Suicidal Thoughts’ – The Notorious B.I.G. In 2001 Will Oldham said his bleak 1999 track was about “an essentially evil person who tries to do good in the world.” Whether or not that fits with your ideas about depression, this song captures lows, and the drive to escape them, perfectly. Key lyrics: “Don’t want another dark time think to myself / I won’t get lost inside it all, I’m on my way / well I can see it the darkness covering my mind / well we can hear the voices war inside.”. Anyone who has experienced depression understands how difficult it can be to face the world when you can barely will yourself to get out of bed in the morning…. And however sad the music is, it resonates most beautifully with our broken hearts. SO beautiful yet depressing at the same time! The Weeknd’ – Kanye West, ‘Should Have Known Better’ – Sufjan Stevens, ‘How To Disappear Completely’ – Radiohead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQe88ybEIe8, In 1993, Kurt Cobain told Impact magazine: “[‘Pennyroyal Tea’] is about a person who’s beyond depressed; they’re in their death bed, pretty much.” The word “pennyroyal” refers to pennyroyal herb, a natural medicine some claim can induce an abortion and Cobain hopes it will “distill the life that’s inside of me.”, Key lyrics: “I’m so tired I can’t sleep / I’m a liar and a thief”. I had, like, forty dollars to get her something. 3. Key lyrics: “If I can’t be a star I won’t get out of bed / Waking up and getting up has never been easy”. Cause I know I feel that way a lot of times.”. Don’t throw your hand… If you feel like you’re alone, no, no, no, you are not alone”, The opening track to fourth album ‘Puzzle’ is “about hitting a low point and not giving a fuck,” says singer Simon Neil. 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